The Great Seminary

Chapter 227 A man should be viewed with new eyes after three days of separation.

When advising someone, even if it's for their own good, you shouldn't preach.

Otherwise, it could easily backfire.

Seeing that his friend was no longer insisting on his own opinion, Zhang Jiujiang nodded silently.

Zhang Gui breathed a sigh of relief and said softly:
"The matter is actually very simple."

In the last two years, you studied at Qingdou Academy and became loyal to the emperor and patriotic.

The main reason for this is the exemplary role played by your headmaster, Mr. Huaihe.

Then he became your role model.

Then, because of the famine relief uprising, his family was destroyed and he decided to come to the remote mountains to solve the root cause.

Then you were moved and followed along, only to find that this guy was a complete hypocrite.

Then your moral system collapses.

My mind got all jumbled up, and I got stuck on a single, obsessive thought.

This gave rise to the rebellious thought that Mr. Huaihe was a hypocrite, but my loyalty to the emperor and my patriotism were genuine and unwavering.

But you shouldn't think that way.

You should clear your mind, stop worrying about what others think, and just focus on what you want to do right now.

Do you understand?

Seeing Zhang Gui gesturing excitedly, Zhang Jiujiang suddenly got up from the ground and gave his good brother a big hug.

Zhang Gui was overjoyed.

"I've finally cured your brain damage."

Okay, stop feeling guilty. You smell like stinky salted fish.

Let's find a big restaurant, wash up, and have a good time with barbecue and liquor.

Then figure out a way to escape.

"Da Gui, you are truly my brother in life and death, my closest friend and confidant!"
But why can't you believe that "a scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days of separation"?

I studied at Qingdou Academy for two years and truly developed my sense of loyalty and righteousness.

It's not about blindly following anyone.

I can't understand it now because I have nowhere else to go.

If you really force me to leave this tiny room, I'll have no choice but to die.

Feeling that Zhang Jiujiang's words were incoherent, Zhang Gui was about to refute them one by one when he was startled by the last three words, "Go to hell."

Changing the subject:

"If we don't want to leave, we don't have to leave. It's something we brothers can laugh about."

"As for reaching the point of life and death, where does that come from?"

"The story of how I followed a group of classmates on a long journey to Yuanshan to welcome the headmaster's remains back home has become a joke."

But faced with the millions of lives saved, I cannot say that Mr. Huaihe deceived me with 'false loyalty' at this moment.

But to say that what he did was right, I really can't get over that nagging feeling in my heart.

Just when we were at a loss, the old patriarch of the Zhang family in Pingyang sent a secret message.

Let me stay in 'Big Wolf City' and spread my branches.

From then on, he considered himself a native of Yuanshan and was not allowed to return to his homeland of the Song and Ming dynasties for ten years.

I felt I had nowhere else to go, so I hid in this 'minimalist abode'.

"So it was that old bastard Zhang Liuduo who gave you a 'timely disaster,' making your brain damage even worse."

That's alright, I have a good place..."

"Da Gui, how can someone as smart as you not understand?"

Although I initially sought refuge from the world because I felt I had nowhere to go, now it's because my heart is trapped.

Unable to find liberation.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gui opened his mouth, though he still had a thousand words to say to persuade him.

But seeing the unprecedented clarity in my friend's eyes, and recalling his words about "dying or dying," I realized...

He finally swallowed.

"Fine.

It doesn't matter where you stay.

"Think things through before you go out. You can go wherever you want, it's the same. But your spending on food, clothing, and other necessities is too much..."

"Let me just let things take their course, okay?"

"Okay, okay, I'll chat with you a little longer, then I'll get lost..."

Zhang Gui chatted with his friend for quite a while, only stopping when he saw Zhang Jiujiang looking tired.

"Jiujiang, I also have my own things to do, and I can't always stay in 'Dalangdu' with you every day to talk nonsense and help you resolve your inner conflicts."

Moreover, "the one who tied the knot must untie it," meaning that only you can untie yourself if you've trapped yourself.

"I'm leaving now. Take care."

"You disturbed my peaceful sleep, you should have left a long time ago, get lost!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiujiang burst into laughter, then lay down on the ground with his hand as a pillow and closed his eyes.

"Sleeping in broad daylight, swearing, and expecting to have a peaceful dream."

If you say you have a grudge, you're even more carefree than when we used to play around everywhere with 'Yu Fang Hao'.

The human heart is a subtle and ineffable thing.

Go take a break, go take a break.

Zhang Gui shook his head with a smile and stepped out of the 'Severance House'.

By the time the wooden door was closed, his face had turned ashen.

Cultivators have inner demons, and so do ordinary people. Once they arise, a thought that even a fool could easily see through might trap a wise person for a lifetime!
"This is how chance can ruin a person, all because of that old bastard Huaihe."

Lao Tzu believed that when doing things, one should first consider the pros and cons, and then decide whether it was right or wrong.

You ruined my best brother's youth, making his life worse than death. No matter how many people your "open and covert schemes" saved, we've now formed a grudge.

Sooner or later, we'll find out!

Zhang Gui thought to himself.

Gritting his teeth, he wandered around 'Xianhezhai' for a while before arriving at 'Shuizi Twenty-Three', where Zhen Ciyun was staying.

At this time, Zhen Ciyun was still reading in the hall.

According to Zhang Gui's current understanding, reading helps one understand principles.

For the general public, the primary goal was to pass the imperial examinations, become an official, and change their fate.

For scions of wealthy and powerful families, however, it is more about establishing their values, broadening their thinking, and aiding their spiritual practice.

Only someone like him, reincarnated with a thought system that is not just mature but thoroughly developed, could bypass this step and still achieve extraordinary success.

Two of Zhen Ciyun's four maids went out to buy things, while Zhen Baimei and Zhen Youlan sat idly chatting in the main room.

I saw Zhang Gui walk in with his hands behind his back, looking quite relaxed.

Their eyes lit up, and they exchanged a glance at the same time.

Zhen Baimei stood up and curtsied, "So it's Sir Winter. Greetings, greetings."

My young lady hasn't finished school yet, would you please sit and wait?

"Okay, haha, I'll sit for a while."

Zhang Gui had come here to ask Zhen Ciyun for a favor, so he shamelessly sat down and started counting the pockmarks on the bluestone slab.

Zhen Baimei poured a cup of tea and placed it on the coffee table next to him.

He retreated with Zhen Youlan.

Immediately afterwards, a soft but excited voice came from behind the screen.

"This is the Western official who somehow slipped into the young lady's boudoir and 'played chess'."

You said he was average-looking, but I think he's quite handsome.

It really is a matter of personal taste.

"Sister Mei, it seems my taste is similar to yours, Miss; it's better than yours."

"His features are ordinary, but that doesn't mean he's ugly; he's just not outstanding."

He didn't possess the imposing, unassuming air of the sons of the powerful and wealthy; in short, he wasn't particularly striking.

Hearing these words intermittently, Zhang Gui could only pretend not to hear them, his eyes glazed over, his body swaying back and forth in the Luohan chair.

After waiting for a while, Zhen Ciyun did not return.

A growing commotion could be heard from afar.

(End of this chapter)